Less Supply, More Regulations and Higher Prices for American Consumers Before Wall Street’s implosion and the sharp economic downturn, energy policy dominated the headlines on the Presidential campaign trail. An overwhelming majority of Americans demanded access to offshore energy resources to help increase supplies and lower prices for everything from gas at the pump to [...]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE October 29, 2008 CONTACT Brian Kennedy (202) 346-8826 Governor Palin Drills Down on U.S. Energy Policy Washington, DC – Thomas Pyle, president of the Institute for Energy Research (IER) issued the following statement regarding Governor Sarah Palin’s (R-AK) speech on U.S. energy policy in Ohio today: “As IER has pointed out time [...]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE October 22, 2008 CONTACT: Elizabeth Ray (703) 683-5004 Ext. 130 IER Analyzes the Obama and McCain Energy Plans Washington, D.C. – The Institute for Energy Research (IER) today issued a comprehensive analysis of the energy proposals outlined by presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain. Drawn from information from the candidates themselves, [...]

Synopsis (104KB) Complete Analysis (60KB) The following comparison of Barack Obama’s and John McCain’s energy and environmental plans comes from the statements of their plans on their official web sites. The text first indicates what the respective plans say on each topic, and then provides IER’s analysis of each topic within the program. Table of [...]

As Congress wrestled with the $700 billion bailout program, Google has come up with another massive spending program. Google wants the Federal government to spend $4.4 trillion to subsidize renewable energy. Eric Schmidt, Google’s CEO quipped, “Given the apparent willingness of the U.S. government to write big checks in a crisis, we can do this on [...]

The first oil well in the U.S. was drilled in 1859. Do you know where? Titusville, Pennsylvania. While historical records indicate that naturally occurring seeps of petroleum were collected and used for a variety of purposes as early as the 1600s, Colonel Edwin Drake was the first to devise a mechanical system to drill into [...]

On Saturday, September 27, the “Green Jobs Now” campaign is fielding what it calls a National Day of Action to “build the new economy.” Their goal is to repower “America with 100% clean and renewable electricity within 10 years.” The goal sounds laudable, but repowering America in 10 years comes with a hefty price tag [...]

Updated August 26, 2010 Executive Summary U.S. Production and Resources U.S. Consumption Coal Plant Statistics Emissions Environmental Issues U.S. Coal Imports and Exports International Executive Summary The United Sates is a global leader in coal, both in production and reserves. Environmental issues and a push toward natural gas and wind power plants in recent years [...]

by Brian Kennedy In an August 16 radio address, the Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives outlined a plan “to take our country in a New Direction for our energy future.” Last week, the Institute for Energy Research (IER) issued an analysis of that plan, entitled, Don’t Know Much About Energy. And yesterday, the [...]

by Mary Hutzler American taxpayers footed a $16.6 billion bill for energy subsidies, tax breaks, loan guarantees, and the like in 2007 alone, according to data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). That’s more than double the Federal subsidy level from eight years earlier.  In fact, on an energy fuel basis, Congress has increased [...]